


when we were young

by narryblossom



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Falling In Love Again, M/M, Past Niall Horan/Harry Styles, solo!harry technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narryblossom/pseuds/narryblossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Niall constantly runs charities and Harry shows up at one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when we were young

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on tumblr quite a while ago and just decided to post it here bc I can, so...
> 
> narryblossom is me, don't be alarmed if you've seen this there.

Niall loves the work he does, loves the people he gets to meet, the people he gets to help, and the connection he makes throughout any charity process. He raises thousands of dollars for each charity he works with, and though the work may sometimes be exhausting, he feels that the smiles and genuine teary-eyed Thank You’s he gets are worth it, and they inspire him to keep doing the work he does.

He loves playing footie and organizing huge games with famous players and his mates, but his favorite charity events are the auction parties. He and his co-hosts use their connections to get pieces from all sorts of rich or important people, as well as valuable items like expensive phones and laptops, and anyone is allowed to come give their money to a good cause. It was at his last auction event that Niall rekindled an old flame rather than creating a new one.

The auction was at its midpoint, one item away from a twenty minute break that was necessary to holding people’s attention throughout the night. Niall was in the middle of laughing along with Louis when a familiar t-shirt was brought onto the stage on a thin mannequin. The white t-shirt had been a favorite of his, though the feminine hands littering it confused him at first. He could have identified that shirt anywhere, and of course the auctioneer confirmed his suspicion of who it belonged to.

“This piece was donated to us by a mister Harry Styles, who happens to be in attendance tonight. The bidding will start at one hundred euros.”

Niall felt his heart jump in his chest when he heard that he was _here_. He had to ask Louis if he heard the man correctly, and, “Yes, Niall. He’s here. I saw him sitting in the back earlier.”

And so began a game with Niall, a sort of cat and mouse where the mouse ran anxiously back and forth, avoiding the Cheshire cat all night though the cat didn’t seem interested in capturing him at all. Niall had almost convinced himself that Harry had no clue he was at this event despite his name being in the headline of the invitation that every guest received. He cursed himself and Louis for making that decision together while downing his first shot of the night. He took care to not take _too many_ due to the fact that some of the children benefitting from this auction were in attendance, but he had to get enough in his system to calm him down, and _maybe_ give him the courage to seek out the cat.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you tonight, Horan,” Louis began, clapping his hand on the back of his shoulder after the last auction piece had sold, “but your little lover boy over there has been talking about heading out. If you’re gonna talk to him, it’s now or never.”

“Never would be good,” Niall mumbled, glancing over his shoulder to see if Louis had tricked him and Harry was waiting for him somewhere, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“That’s fine with me, mate, just cheer up a bit, will ya? Tonight was one of our biggest successes! It’s time for celebration!”

“I know, I know. I’ll celebrate alright, just give me a bit.”

“Alright, alright. But I’m coming back for you in ten minutes, Horan. We’re hitting the town tonight!” Louis smiled widely, backing away from Niall, almost tripping over a chair in the process. Niall’s face lit up at Louis’s struggle and he laughed, scrunching up his nose and turning forward in his seat once again. He leaned against the back of his chair and relaxed, looking at the now empty stage as the podium was lifted away and all the items were given to their new owners. He smiled to himself thinking of all the good things that the money raised will do for the charity they’ve chosen to support when a bittersweet voice interrupted his thoughts.

“There was a great turnout tonight, huh? Would you mind if I sat with you?”

Niall paused and chewed his lip before straightening his posture and looking up towards the owner of the voice.

“Yeah, there were a lot of people,” he began softly. “You can sit.”

“Thank you,” Harry said as he sat, smiling at Niall. “I’m glad that I could help out,” he added after a silent beat in the conversation.

“I didn’t know you would be here,” Niall blurted, slowly looking towards Harry. “No one told me.”

“Oh,” Harry laughed softly, glancing away from Niall’s stare. “I figured you would have known since it’s the Tomlinson-Horan event.”

“Yeah, me too.” Niall nodded and looked down at his lap. He swiped his hands against his thighs to dust away any imaginary crumbs and to give himself something to do. Harry stayed silent this time, allowing Niall to think of something to say.

“Your career really took off, huh? You seem to be doing really well for yourself.”

“Yeah,” Harry smiled, a hint of guilt tugging at the corner of his lips. “I kinda knew it would.”

“Mm,” Niall hummed, nodding. “I guess space was what you needed after all.”

Harry hummed in response, tugging at the cuffs of his jacket nervously.

“You’ve been doing well too, I see," he recovered, “Got your own little crew of people making all these big charity events. I knew you’d end up doing something like this. You were always a kind soul.”

“Still am,” Niall chuckled, a small smile coming to his face. “I think this is just what I was made to do.”

“I can see that,” Harry smiled back, giving Niall a quick look-over. “God, you still seem like the same Niall I used to know.”

“I thought you’d be different now after getting big and making it in Hollywood, but I have to agree, you seem to be the same person.” Niall chuckled, watching Harry roll his eyes. They slowly began a conversation about what the two of them had gotten up to during their many years apart. Niall felt the spark in his heart return, and though he knew he should have stopped himself, he let himself give into Harry’s charm. His face flushed when Harry smiled at him, and he felt the familiar adoration rush through him when they laughed together. The crew had almost completely cleared the venue by the time Niall and Harry’s conversation was beginning to dwindle, awkwardly avoiding the subject of their breakup that had to be on both of their minds.

“There’s enough film left for one more set of pictures in the photo booth, boys,” someone called out to them. Harry’s eyes lit up as he jumped out of his seat, pulling Niall up with him by his arm.

“Come on, let’s take the last picture.”

“Okay,” Niall easily agreed, allowing Harry to hold his arm the entire way to the booth.

At first they tried to keep a small space between them, both giving crooked, buzzed smiles to the small camera in the center of the booth. Then, Harry’s laugh filled the booth as he wrapped his arm around Niall’s shoulders and made a comment about not acting like such a stiff. The second picture was of Niall’s charmed look cast towards Harry while his head was tilted back in laughter. The third picture was taken when Harry’s head was facing Niall’s, a small smirk dancing on his lips, and the fourth captured Niall’s cheeks in a dark red blush as Harry connected their lips again for the first time in five years.


End file.
